The man came back to the surface, it was his third dive and a few hours had passed. Other people had gone up the terraces of the pyramid to avoid the water but both of them stayed down there. He helped the man back onto the terraces, and the man gave him the news when he had caught his breath.
"Goddamn, it is so dark and scary under those waters," The man said "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought"
"Did you see anything down there?"
With a sigh, he said: "Yes, I did and I tell you it does not look good"
He sat down beside the man but the man got up almost immediately and stared at the waters again "I'm not exactly sure of what I saw because it was dark but it seems like the pyramid has a second level"
He raised his head, not sure how to respond. He had not explained exactly how that was bad news. Was he supposed to be frightened or worried?
The man noticed this and spoke first:
"What, are you brain dead or something? I said the pyramid had a second level" He paused, trying to see what his partner could make of this information but the staring continued. With two fingers on the bridge of his nose and a sigh, he spoke "That means that if we can't find an entrance on this part of the pyramid, we're going to have to go deeper...." He paused "...And that means you're going to have to learn how to swim"
Getting the message, his eyes were immediately filled with horror. "But have we considered that there might be a door above"
"What, you don't like that idea? Then maybe you'll just have to stay up here by yourself"
They both stared at each other for several seconds, not a single word uttered from any of their mouths until a voice broke the silence.
"I can teach you how to swim if you'd like"
They both shifted their gazes to the source of the voice and a few meters away from them, there were two girls, both of who looked at least seventeen.
The first one looked bold and pretty. Just like everyone there, she was in the hessian outfit but hers was kind of neater than his. She had a slender face and strong features. Adding to her beauty were her green eyes and her long bright blonde hair. The combination of her porcelain skin and all these features made her look like a doll.
The second one, however, looked shy but still pretty. No, the shyness was the most beautiful thing about her. Her hessian was styled differently from others. Rather than a baggy long-sleeved T-shirt and pants, she had a baggy long skirt and a sleeveless baggy crop top. She had a heart-shaped face and strong features just like the first girl but her hair was black with gray and silver highlights, her eyes were silver and she had ivory skin.
She stood behind the first girl, hiding almost half of her perfect form from his eyes. That did not stop him from the blush on her face.
Just like he and the man both of them were in wet clothes that clung very closely to their bodies. So close that he could almost-
'Snap out of it you idiot'
"And who are the both of you?" The man said.
"You two, you're Seekers, aren't you?"
"How can you tell?"
"Well, you guys kind of stand out" She replied.
"Still, who are you?"
"I'm sure you already know the situation, but I can't tell you my name because I can't remember"
"It's still good to be vigilant, isn't it?"
"You're right about that" The girl walked over to them and extended a hand to the man "Nice to me you. For now, you can call me Eleven, call her Sixteen. We are also Seekers like you" She said and pointed to the other girl.
The man took her hand and shook it "Eleven and Thirteen, any reason you chose those as your pseudonyms?"
"No. How about you sir?"
"Wait..." The man paused and looked her in the eyes, then looked at the boy, then Thirteen. He repeated the cycle two more times before settling on Eleven's face again "...Sir? Sir?! SIR?!!! Do I really look that old to you?!"
"Wait, you're not an adult?" The boy asked.
"What do you mean?! I'm seventeen years old for god sake"
The three were speechless and surprise was written all over their faces. They could not be blamed for their assumption. If only he could see his reflection he would understand and even agree with their sentiment. Unfortunately, the blue water did not allow that.
"Wait, we're not calling you ugly," Eleven said "It's just that you look and sound so... manly"
When he heard her words he looked away and stroked under his nose with a smug grin. "I know, right?"
"You switched up pretty fast," The boy said.
"By the way, you can call me..." He looked around trying to think of something to refer to himself as and his eyes fell upon... "...Stone. You can call me Stone"
"Nice to meet you... Stone. How about you?"
After a minute or two of pondering he chose:
"...Six"
"What?"
"Six, call me Six"
"Well nice to meet you Six"
"Nice to meet you too, Eleven"
Six had his eyes on Eleven and Thirteen but mostly on Stone. It felt odd how people who just met could be so friendly to each other, especially when they were in an unknown situation like this. But it did not matter what he thought. If he wanted to survive a place like this he needed alliances, even if they were temporary.
"Hey, don't leave us out of the party," a voice said and alerted the group. It was a male voice, and this time, it came from above. They looked up and saw two young men around the same age standing four terraces above them.
The first one who spoke had long brown hair. He, too, was handsome like Stone. He possessed bold and daring purple eyes, a very rare kind. His face was diamond-shaped, and he had high cheekbones. His skin was flawless nude. His jawline was well-chiseled, and he was nothing short of charming. Eleven was right when she said that Seekers stood out, It was like they were born as models.
Even the one standing behind him was an explosive package.
He was tall and slender. His long face was perfectly shaped, with high cheekbones and honey skin. His hair was red, and so were his pupils.
'Just kill me already' Six thought.
The redhead introduced the both of them:
"Nice to meet you, judging by how you look I assume you are all Seekers, like us" He said "You may address me as Red" His voice carried the kind of confidence that told them he did not care about their opinions. The brown haired one jumped down the terraces and went straight to six.
"Whoa, anyone ever told you how handsome you are?"
"Thanks for the compliment, but I'm not that-"
"What's this dude saying? You're like... the most handsome of everyone here"
"Have you even seen yourself?"
"Try to control yourself Purple" Red said.
"Purple? Your pseudonym is Purple?"
"Yeah," he replied "Red here said that my eyes were purple so I just decided to call myself that. But I'm pretty sure I had brown eyes"
"No, your eyes are actually purple," Six said.
"Wait, they are?"
Stone interrupted them "Say, is anyone hungry?"
"Now that you mention it, I am hungry," Purple said. "Do you have anything for us to eat?"
Stone glanced at the tunnel that was closest to them and smiled, saying: "Is there anyone who is allergic to rats?"